Nana’s “Burn The House Down” Chicken. Phew, with a name like that you better believe there is a story to this recipe.

This is a simple to make but tasty chicken dish that Nana has made for our family for as long as I can remember. She said she got it off the back of a Lipton Soup Mix box years ago, so maybe your family has cooked it too.

Anyway, this chicken dish used to simply be known to us as “Nana’s Chicken”. However when I graduated from high school, my parents accidently left this cooking in the oven during my ceremony. The sauce boiled over and started smoking, neighbors saw the smoke and called the the fire department, and drama ensued. Everything turned out ok, with some minor smoke damage to the stove, but ever since that day this chicken dish has been called “Burn The House Down Chicken”.

We always serve it with some rice (brown rice these days), and a big loaf of crusty Italian or French bread. Carb overload? Maybe. But the sauce is so tasty you’re going to want something to dip in it and soak it up.

The traditional way of making it was to bake it in the oven, but that can take awhile especially if you don’t get thin boneless chicken breast. So to get dinner on the table quicker, on a busy night we pan fry whole boneless chicken breasts until done, then add the saucy mixture in until hot and bubbly. It comes out great and I bet you if we served it to Nana she’d never know the difference.

In a bowl, combine the onion soup mix, the apricot preserves, and the Russian dressing.

There are two ways to cook this.

If chicken has bone in and/or you want to bake, place chicken in a baking dish and cover with mixture. Bake about 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (cook time will differ depending on thickness of the chicken and whether or not it's boneless)

OR

Pan fry whole boneless chicken breast over high heat to sear in juices. Reduce heat to medium high and cook about 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Reduce heat to low and add soup mixture. Heat until mixture is hot and bubbly.

4 Comments

Apricot/peach/etc. preserves are seriously a secret weapon – they make everything delicious and add just the right amount of sweet n’ tangy. I love the story behind this – it makes me wish my family had something similar, but alas, we have no “family recipes”.

Yes, this was my mother’s “go to” chicken dish for easy entertaining. I don’t know if it came from the Lipton package or not. I know that friends of hers called it “Golfer’s Chicken” because, supposedly — without any house burning — you could let it cook all day in a slow oven while you played a round (or two.)